Okagesama de?

[Iwakurasan]

Mina-san!

In Lesson 3 for newbies (which I am), we got to:

O-genki desu ka?
Okagesama de, genki desu.

The latter translated "Thanks to you, I'm fine." I don't fully get that. '-sama' is used for ultimate respect, authority, like "Kami-sama" (God), right? So, I looked up "kage," and it means 'shadow.' So, O-kage-sama de, the way I figure this, would then mean something like 'Under the -sama/ueber shadow,' whch is to say, Under the protection of the heavens/gods, etc. So, what I don't understand is why "Hai, Okagesama de" means "Thanks to you."

Also, when people say, "Konnichiwa, ikaga desu ka?", what does 'ikagA' mean here? Something similar as OkagEsama de?

I hope someone is willing to clarify this for me.

Thank you.

[amost]

the -sama on the end just shows respect, but I don't think it refers to anyone in particular.

gochisou-sama deshita <-- this phrase is said after meals to show your thanks
otsukare-sama desu <-- this phrase shows appreciation for the effort someone did. like "good job!"

See, in all of these examples, the sama is added to show apprecation... so don't start going around thinking that japanese people pray to "shadow gods" or anything

[QuackingShoe]

Haha, no, no. I can see why you would be confused, but no, you're overthinking it. It's good to question translations given to you, but not necessarily to do so with idiomatic expressions when you're not at a stage where you actually can call them into question.
This is really a standard Japanese construction. 'kage' refers to as much reflection as shadow (like a reflection in the water), and, additionally, and key here, presence. 'o' is an honorable prefix, and 'okage' gets used to refer to someone's assistance to you in some way. Adding 'sama' to the end of something is indeed a high honorific, but it isn't so high as you necessarily believe. Adding honorific suffixes to words like this is very common and a way of sortof titling someone for something. So when you say 'okagesama', you're just pointing them out as the reason you're able to do/be something.

Other expression you may be aware of: gochisousama (said after a meal, honorific go + feast + sama) otsukaresama (said after work or any other endeavor, honorific o + tired + sama). In any example, you can always swap out for 'san' if you're feeling (a lot) less polite. And 'chan' isn't unheard of.


ikaga means 'how'. It's like 'dou'. But much more polite.

[Yamanchu]

okagesame de, just means 'thanks to you'. That's it, best remembered as a simple phrase, your making it more complicated than it is. Ikaga desu ka is a polite way of asking how are you.

[QuackingShoe]

So, O-kage-sama de, the way I figure this, would then mean something like 'Under the -sama/ueber shadow,' whch is to say, Under the protection of the heavens/gods,

I'd also like to point out that 'sama' is an honorific suffix and would not refer to a 'god' or, indeed, anything at all (like this, anyway). So it would not be "the sama's shadow" or any such thing, but rather 'shadow-sama', the honored shadow, Mr. Shadow, etc, if anything. I feel it's important to point out because you interpreted this to mean "The shadow of the gods." But rather, sama is merely a suffix, a title, added for respect. So it could never be shadow of sama, only a rather polite Mr. Shadow

(And there was nothing to imply 'under' or that it was the location of something - 'de' only indicates location of actions and not states)

Anyway, good luck in your studies! The crazy cultural quirks that lead to expressions like this are some of the most confusing parts of the language, but they're a lot of fun, right?

[Iwakurasan]

Well, that wasn't embarrassing or anything, LOL. I guess I really was way overthinking it (and in a totally wrong direction).

Gomen nasai! Sumimasen! (And whatever applies in cases like this).

[Iwakurasan]

So, O-kage-sama de, the way I figure this, would then mean something like 'Under the -sama/ueber shadow,' whch is to say, Under the protection of the heavens/gods,

I'd also like to point out that 'sama' is an honorific suffix and would not refer to a 'god' or, indeed, anything at all (like this, anyway). So it would not be "the sama's shadow" or any such thing, but rather 'shadow-sama', the honored shadow, Mr. Shadow, etc, if anything. I feel it's important to point out because you interpreted this to mean "The shadow of the gods." But rather, sama is merely a suffix, a title, added for respect. So it could never be shadow of sama, only a rather polite Mr. Shadow

Arigato gozaimasu! I think it's perfectly clear now.